Technical Field
Embodiments disclosed herein are related to systems and methods for reusing generic tokens using a Bluetooth® low energy (BLE) beacon.
Related Art
Computer systems and networks have facilitated the tasks of buying, selling and transferring goods. For example, global computer networks, such as the Internet, have allowed purchasers to relatively quickly and efficiently seek and purchase goods online. Similarly, global computer networks provide an efficient and cost-effective medium for sellers to advertise, offer, provide, and sell their goods. Electronic commerce companies provide buyers and sellers with online services and the infrastructure to accept orders of goods from remote purchasers, to perform the financial transactions to confirm and complete the sale of goods, to ship or distribute the goods to remote purchasers, and to perform other related logistics. Technology advances have also allowed for a wider variety of devices and transaction types in the retail and other marketplaces.
One example of a relatively new development within the realm of electronic commerce is the ability to allow a consumer to pay for a good or service at a point of sale through the use of his or her smart phone or other personal mobile device. A user merely needs to have an appropriate payment application or “app” on his or her device, whereupon the user can present his or her phone or other similar device at an appropriate time and location at a retail or other establishment. The retailer or other seller or service provider can then “check in” the given user through some process of reading his or her smart phone or other similar device, after which the seller or service provider can accept payment or credit through some form of communication with the checked in or acknowledged device. This “check in” ability to accept payment or credit without the use of cash, checks, credit cards, or other traditional payment means can be particularly helpful in many settings. The “check in” ability is also useful in other non-payment contexts. As an example, the “check in” ability may be used when a user approaches a venue such as a sports arena, concert hall, airport, or the like to access, retrieve, and/or present an electronic version of a ticket, boarding pass, and/or similar token in order to gain access to the venue.
Unfortunately, implementation of “check in” ability is not without its limitations. In some examples, global positioning system (GPS) or other location services of many mobile devices, such as smart phones, may be used to identify when a user is in proximity to a venue or a retail or other establishment for which the “check in” ability is available. Location services, however, are power intensive and it may not be reasonable or practical to keep these location services continuously active. In addition, retailers and other service providers with a large number of locations may involve the installation of hundreds, thousands, or even more locations that may be impractical for the user to manage and/or store on their mobile device. For example, some token management applications place a rather small, e.g., 10, upper limit on the number of locations that may be associated with individual “check in” records. In some examples, venues, retail, and/or other establishments may use one or more beacon devices to identify locations for which the “check in” ability may be available. These beacon devices, however, may have practical limitations due to numbers of users and/or available bandwidth that may limit their ability to “check in” users and distribute appropriate tokens. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have improved systems and methods for supporting the “check in” ability.
In the drawings, elements having the same designation have the same or similar functions.